Aotearoa
| Aotearoa | |
|---|---|
| Game | |
 | |
| Main links | |
| Published | 1 October 2010 |
| Credits | |
| Author | Matt Wigdahl |
| Reception | |
| Events |  Winner: Best Game, Best Implementation, Best Individual Puzzle, Best NPCs, Best Puzzles, Best Setting, Best Use of Innovation |
| IFDB rating | 4 out of 5 (65 ratings) |
| Gameplay | |
| Interaction style |  Parser |
| Literary genre |  Fantasy |
| Location |  Wilderness |
| Language | English |
| Accessibility | Colour: yes, optional. Graphics: none. Sound: none. |
| Technical details | |
| Authoring system | Inform 7 |
| Format | Glulx |
| License | Freeware |
| IFID | 518CB2D4-2A75-4E9B-A8BA-427264BDDBC4 |
| Browse the games database • Edit this page | |
How it begins
The waka floats in the deep ocean, the sun motionless and searing in the clear sky. Māui, the trickster, casts his fishing line into the depths of the ocean, tied to his magic hook made from a human jawbone. Almost immediately the hook catches, and he pulls up an enormous fish that somehow becomes, as you watch, an entire continent. On that new continent magnificent dinosaurs -- taniwha -- prowl the dark forests. Volcanoes dim the sky with smoke and stain the air with the stench of sulfur, but the land is rich and fertile, and Māui's older brothers look on it with greed in their eyes. Māui watches them, deep in thought, with a faraway expression you can't read. Then he turns to look directly into your eyes, and says, "You know that some of my brothers cannot be trusted. You must keep them from carving up this great fish until I return from the gods with the proper karakia."
And suddenly he's gone, flying away into the sun in the form of a seabird, and you're left floating in the waka with Māui's brothers as they smile secret half-smiles to each other and reach for their knives, and you wonder what in the world Māui thinks that you, twelve-year-old Tim Cooper, can do to stop them before they carve up and defile...
Versions
Release 1
Date: 1 October 2010
- Aotearoa (Matt Wigdahl; 01-Oct-2010; Glulx).
- Beta-testers: Sam Kabo Ashwell, Aaron A. Reed, Matt Woodall, Faith Knowles, Michael Blankowski, Garrett Goebel, Maddy Goebel, Alex Goebel, Joel Webster, and Poster.
- Testing hardware for Mac builds was kindly provided by Matt Funk.
- Release 1 / Serial number 100928 / Inform 7 build 6E72 (I6/v6.31 lib 6/12N)
- IFID: 518CB2D4-2A75-4E9B-A8BA-427264BDDBC4
IFID links: IFDB - IF Comp 2010: 1st place of 26 entries.
- XYZZY Awards 2010. Winner of 7 awards: Best Game, Best Setting, Best Puzzles, Best NPCs, Best Individual Puzzle (crossing the river), Best Implementation, and Best Use of Innovation. Finalist for Best Individual NPC (the monkey-thing).
- Download Aotearoa.gblorb from the IF Archive. The story file.
- Download Aotearoa_cover.pdf from the IF Archive. Haere Mai! magazine cover feelie.
- Download glkote.css from the IF Archive. GlkOte stylesheet for Quixe/I7 template. (say what?)
Links
N.B. Many IF Archive games are temporarily unavailable in the UK.
General info
- Aotearoa - at IFDB
- Aotearoa - at ifwizz interactive fiction (in German).
- Aotearoa Postmortem — Part 1: Convenience Features (archive) - comments by the author.
- Aotearoa Postmortem — Part 2: Development Recap (archive)
Reviews
- Review by Lynnea Dally
- Review by Martin Barth (in German).
- Review by Brad Buchanan.
- Review by Chris.
- Review by Dark Star.
- Review by Michael D. Hilborn.
- Review by Christopher Huang.
- Review by Imrihamun (Cobaltnine).
- Review by Admiral Jota.
- Review (in Russian) by Valentine Kopteltsev.
- Review by Yoon Ha Lee.
- Review by Jacqueline A. Lott.
- Review by Michael Martin.
- Exploring the 'Best Games': Aotearoa, by Matt Wigdahl - by Mathbrush.
- Review by Sarah Morayati.
- Review by Carl Muckenhoupt.
- Review by Ron Newcomb.
- Review by Rob O'Hara.
- Review by Steven Odhner.
- Review by Peter Pears.
- Review by Jenni Polodna.
- Review by rach.
- Review by Rhian.
- Review by Leandro Ribeiro.
- Review by Kate Sherrod.
- Review by Dan Shiovitz.
- Review by Emily Short.
- Review by Skeet.
Spoilers
Date: 1 October 2010